Newton v. Magill

OPINION

MATTHEWS, Justice.

This is a slip and fall case brought by a tenant against her landlord. The superior court granted summary judgment in favor of the landlord based on the traditional common law rule that a landlord is generally not liable for dangerous conditions in leased premises. We hold that this rule no longer applies in view of the legislature’s enactment of the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, and therefore reverse.

I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

In the summer of 1988, Darline Newton moved from Idaho to Petersburg to join her husband, Stan, who had moved to Alaska a few…